"Vintage" speakers...good idea?


To feed my stereo habit, I'm toying with the idea of buying a pair of "vintage" speakers, like the old classic JBL L series or something similar. Many of these speakers are up to 25 years old, but can be found with their foam surrounds repaired and in otherwise good condition. My question is, do other parts of the speaker wear out? That is, other than the obvious physical disintegration of the foam surrounds? What is the average life expectancy of a speaker?

Thanks!
John
stereomaniac
I am glad the forum is back; because, I am considering an interim speaker while I save some additional bucks to buy an expensive hi-end speaker that just came on the market. I often wonder how good the original Large Advents would sound with an Aragon amp and Conrad Johnson behind them The problem is those ratty speaker terminals that were a testament to the low quality wire used 25 years ago.I am not sure the today's simplest spade lug would fit them.Someone mentioned KLH 33's; what about Rectilinear 11's and 12's; Epicure 100; or even the AR's 2ax and 4ax(?) Are we just all nostalgia freaks, or was audio just more fun when these "vintage" pieces were on the market??
The advances in speaker quality in the past 30 years are so great that the "Vintage" would need to offer something today's don't. In cone speakers I can't think of any that would fit that. Cabinets, tweeters, cone suspension, components in the cross over have all improved. So unless you plan to totally re-build I would pass. If your looking at horns, something like voice of the theater or the like you may well find some advantages. It would be well worth the time and money to upgrade the components from these beasts, given you have a room that can support the sound and your driving with very low watt tubes. The quality of the right matched tube/ horn speaker is magical and I'd bet with today's capacitors it could be amazing. Just my thoughts for what it's worth.
My 1979 B&W DM7 Mark 2 speakers in my second system are still holding up well and are sounding very good.